Nikoloz Basilashvili is looking to secure a major upset at the Shanghai Masters as he takes on German star Alexander Zverev on Wednesday.

Nikoloz Basilashvili has had something of a season to forget so far, with early eliminations in all four of the Grand Slam tournaments seeing the Georgian miss out on any major silverware. A third-round exit at the Australian Open was followed by two first round exits at the French and Wimbledon, while his best performance of the year at a Slam came at the US Open, where he was knocked out in the fourth round.

Alexander Zverev on the other hand has enjoyed a fairly good season so far, although a run to the quarter -inals has been the sum of his ambition in 2018. Three third round exits at the Australian, US and Wimbledon came along with reaching the quarter -inals of the French Open. While these performances are something to build upon, the fact Zverev is fifth in the ATP rankings means he should be battling to the latter-stages of Grand Slam tournaments, rather than having to stomach elimination fairly early-on.

Basilashvili has not enjoyed great success in recent instalments of the Shanghai Masters with four matches resulting in two wins and two defeats. A best run to the Round of 64 constitutes a poor return for a player of the Georgian’s talent, and if he wants to close the gap in the rankings between himself and his next opponent, then he needs to start to stay at tournaments for longer.

Zverev on the other hand has fared slightly better, entering two Shanghai Masters, with a run to the Round of 16 his best effort. Five matches has seen three wins and two draws, while it should be taken into account that Zverev was knocked out by the impressive Juan Martin del Potro last year, with the draw not kind to the German.

The two have only met once in competitive matches, with Zverev coming out on top back in Marseille in 2015. A 7-6, 6-3 win over the Gerogian three years ago means that the German comes into this one with history on his side, although a single match can hardly be used to back one player over another. Instead, taking their recent showings at tournaments into account and their rankings, it is Zverev that comes out on top, with the player being ranked fifth in the world along with the fact he seems to be a better all-round tennis player means it is likely he will taste victory over Basilashvili on Wednesday, thus booking his place in the next round of the Shanghai Masters.

Nikoloz Basilashvili vs Alexander Zvaerv Shanghai Masters Round of 32 tennis is live from Shanghai on Wednesday after 1:00pm local time (06:00 BST).

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